Have mountain bike, will travel

IF you are ever invited to take a cycle tour with Geoff and Patsy Olliver, of Noosa Banks, it might be best to check the route thoroughly – it might just cross a continent.

Go along for the ride and chances are you will come back transformed from travelling by the seat of your saddle and opening yourself up to breathtaking vistas, not to mention the locals prepared to stop and talk to strangers.

For the past 30 years, the super-fit, but laidback, former competitive runners have made it their passion to mountain bike their way into the unexpected.

When they first started out, they were pilgrims on roads less travelled by tourists who mainly thought bikes were for the local peasants.

Now Geoff and Patsy are part of a dedicated band of mountain bikers drawn to off-road encounters with wilderness and chance meetings with memorable characters.

They have just returned from their ultimate getaway – a six-month grand tour of almost 13,000km from Anchorage, Alaska, down to Texas and then Georgia, with the highlight the 4300km wilderness experience from Banff National Park in Canada to Antelope Springs in New Mexico.

This section is arguably North America’s No.1 biking adventure, along the Great Mountain route.

“We’ve always wanted to go to Alaska and throw in the Continental Great Divide trail, which is supposedly the longest off-road mountain bike trail in the world, down to the Mexican border,” Geoff said.

“We actually crossed the continental divide 29 times. Most of the time we were up around 7000 to 12,000 feet.

“You don’t really notice (the effects of the altitude) because you climb gradually.

“On this trip we hardly saw anyone. There are probably only 20 or 30 people who do that trail in a year.”

So where to next for the couple who celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary on their latest ride?

South America looks nice – and high.

“But we’re going to let the dust settle, enjoy Christmas before going back to work to save for the next cycling tour,” Geoff said.